Pinkas Synagogue Prague: the Memorial Walls and the Children's Drawings

Who the Names Are and How Many

The walls name the Jewish victims of the Shoah from Bohemia and Moravia. Wikipedia counts nearly 80,000 names on the walls. The Jewish Museum describes the memorial as naming nearly 80,000 victims. Both figures describe the same memorial.

A digital database at the site lets visitors look up a victim's name, portrait and the exact wall location where that name is painted. If you are searching for a family name, the database is the fastest way to find it among the names rather than scanning wall after wall.

• About 77,297 names painted on the interior walls (Wikipedia figure)
• Nearly 80,000 victims named, per the Jewish Museum
• A digital database gives each name's wall location

The Painters and the Years

The memorial was made by the painters Václav Boštík and Jiří John. They worked on it from 1955 to 1960, and the memorial opened in 1960. Names, not numbers, are the point of the room.

• Painted by Václav Boštík and Jiří John
• Work ran from 1955 to 1960
• The memorial opened in 1960

Silence Inside

The museum's visitor regulations state that loud conversation and commentary are not allowed inside the Pinkas Synagogue. The rule is part of how the building works as a memorial, so visitors read the names quietly. Photography for personal use is allowed without flash, tripods, selfie sticks or extra lighting, and the security check on entry applies here as at the other museum sites.

What Is on the First Floor

The Jewish Museum counts 4,387 drawings by children in Theresienstadt, the ghetto that the Germans called Theresienstadt, now Terezin, which lies about 60 to 70 km north of Prague depending on the source. Wikipedia's article gives about 4,500. The museum's figure of 4,387 is the count entered in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register, which the drawings joined.

The drawings on display come from 1942 to 1944. More than 10,000 children under 15 passed through Theresienstadt.

• 4,387 drawings per the museum, about 4,500 per Wikipedia
• Made in Theresienstadt between 1942 and 1944
• UNESCO Memory of the World Register since 2025

Friedl Dicker-Brandeis and the Lessons

The drawings come from lessons led by Friedl Dicker-Brandeis. For background on the ghetto itself, its transports and its liberation on 8 May 1945, see the guide to Terezin concentration camp.

From 1535 to the Memorial

Aaron Meshullam Horowitz built the synagogue for the Horovitz family and it was completed in 1535 in late Gothic style, which makes it the second oldest surviving synagogue in Prague. A small house of worship already stood on the site in 1492. The reticulated vault is late Gothic, while its ornaments carry Renaissance features.

The women's gallery, the vestibule and the entrance were added in the early 17th century, and a Renaissance annex designed by Juda Coref de Herz followed between 1607 and 1625. In 1793 Joachim von Popper donated the Rococo wrought-iron grille. Floods shaped the building too: the floor was raised 1.5 metres after flood damage in 1860.

In 1950 to 1954 the original floor level and appearance were restored, which prepared the building for the memorial that Boštík and John painted from 1955 to 1960.

Closure and Reopening

The two sources give slightly different closure dates. Wikipedia records that the memorial opened in 1960, closed in 1968 and reopened in 1989 after reconstruction. The Jewish Museum records a closure from 1968 to 1995 and a reopening in 2003 after flood repairs.

In the 2002 flooding the nave stood 1.3 metres deep in water, and the repairs that followed kept the building shut until 2003. Wikipedia gives moisture as the reason for the 1968 closure. An evening video-mapping projection of victims' photographs is shown on the mikveh, except on Fridays and Jewish holidays.

The Ticket

The Pinkas Synagogue is part of the Jewish Museum circuit and entry comes on the ticket sold as the Jewish Quarter Ticket, either bought directly or included on tours such as the 2.5-hour guided walk with admission. One ticket covers all currently open sites, which are the Maisel, Pinkas, Spanish and Old-New Synagogues plus the Old Jewish Cemetery, with the Klausen Synagogue partly open for temporary exhibitions. The museum's own tickets for individuals and families are valid for three days, while the Jewish Quarter Ticket sold here is valid for 1 day.

Each visitor site may be entered only once per ticket. Tickets are sold online, at the Visitor Centre at Maiselova 15, and at the counters of the Spanish, Klausen, Pinkas and Maisel Synagogues. Sales end 30 minutes before closing time.

Children under 15 must be with an adult, and Prague Visitor Pass and Prague CoolPass holders enter free. Audio guides are rented at the Visitor Centre, at the Pinkas Synagogue entrance and at the Old Jewish Cemetery entrance, run about two hours with 80 stops, and come in Hebrew, English, German, Spanish, Italian and French. The museum puts a complete circuit tour at roughly 2 to 3 hours.

Tickets are non-refundable and a lost ticket is not replaced.

Hours and Quiet Times

The museum opens daily except Saturdays and Jewish holidays. In 2026 the hours run 9:00-16:30 from 2 January to 31 March, 9:00-18:00 in April, 9:00-19:00 from 1 May to 31 August, 9:00-18:00 from 1 September to 17 October, and 9:00-16:30 from 18 October to 31 December. On 1 January the sites open 11:00-16:30 and on 24 December they close at 14:00.

Entry is guaranteed up to 30 minutes before closing and visitors are ushered out 10 minutes before. The museum also closes for the main Jewish holidays, including Pesach, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret. Check both the visitor rules and the hours page before you go, because the two sources differ on some second-day holidays.

The museum advises avoiding the 11:00-15:00 peak, since mornings and late afternoons are much quieter.

Rules and Getting There

Loud conversation and commentary are not allowed inside the Pinkas Synagogue, so read the walls quietly and let the names speak. Bags over 30 litres are refused at the entrance and the museum has no luggage storage. Exposed arms, shoulders or midriff, swimwear and bare feet are not allowed.

Food, drinks and smoking are banned, dogs are banned except certified assistance dogs, and personal photos and video are allowed without flash, tripod, selfie stick or extra lighting. Security checks apply on entry. Staroměstská on Metro Line A is a 3-minute walk from the museum, with trams 17 and 18 and buses 194 and 207 stopping there.

Old Town Square is 5 minutes on foot and Charles Bridge 10 minutes. The nearest paid parking is below Čechův most on nábřeží Edvarda Beneše, and the museum advises leaving the car outside the centre.

The Route on Into the Cemetery

The Old Jewish Cemetery entrance is at Široká 3, the same address as the synagogue. The cemetery was in use from 1439 and its last burial was in 1787. It holds more than 12,000 tombstones Men must cover their heads on entering, with their own covering or a borrowed one, and visitors may walk only the marked route.

The cemetery's history, its famous graves and the burial layers are covered in full in the guide to the Old Jewish Cemetery.